Subjective effects and perceived mechanisms of change of cognitive behavioral and mindfulness-based online interventions for low sexual desire in women.

Cognitive-behavioral (CBT) and mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) are effective treatments for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Dysfunction (HSDD) in women. To date, evidence regarding the mechanisms of these treatments for improving low sexual desire is still lacking. To gain comprehensive information on the subjective effects and perceived mechanisms of change of CBT and MBT for HSDD, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 51 cis-women who participated in a trial investigating internet-based CBT and MBT for HSDD. Data were analyzed with deductive and inductive content analysis. Subjective treatment effects included increased desire, improved communication, and greater self-acceptance. Different mechanisms of change for CBT and MBT were endorsed by participants. This study provides tangible evidence of the different pathways through which CBT and MBT can improve women's sexual desire.

A Qualitative Study of Women's Experiences with Cognitive-Behavioral and Mindfulness-Based Online Interventions for Low Sexual Desire.

Cognitive-behavioral (CBT) and mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) are among the most researched types of psychological interventions for low sexual desire in women. While both have been found effective in improving women's sexual desire, little is known about how women personally experience these treatments. To closely examine both approaches from a participant's perspective, semi-structured telephone-based interviews were conducted with 51 cis-women (Mage = 39, SD = 11, range = 22 to 69) who participated in a randomized controlled study comparing internet-based CBT and MBT for low sexual desire with a waitlist. Interview data were analyzed using thematic and content analysis. Most women (n = 44, 86.3%) evaluated their respective treatment (i.e., CBT or MBT) as helpful in improving their sexual desire. CBT-techniques, such as cognitive restructuring, were mentioned as being helpful for challenging maladaptive thinking patterns, while formal mindfulness-exercises allowed women to disengage from negative sexuality-related thoughts. Elements of sex therapy, including self-stimulation exercises and sensate focus, were perceived as crucial for getting women in touch with their sexual desires and preferences. Strengths of the online format included anonymity, flexibility, and convenient access. Overall, women's personal accounts supported feasibility, acceptability, and clinical usefulness of CBT- and MBT-based internet interventions targeting low sexual desire.

Polygenic risk scores across the extended psychosis spectrum.

As early detection of symptoms in the subclinical to clinical psychosis spectrum may improve health outcomes, knowing the probabilistic susceptibility of developing a disorder could guide mitigation measures and clinical intervention. In this context, polygenic risk scores (PRSs) quantifying the additive effects of multiple common genetic variants hold the potential to predict complex diseases and index severity gradients. PRSs for schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) were computed using Bayesian regression and continuous shrinkage priors based on the latest SZ and BD genome-wide association studies (Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, third release). Eight well-phenotyped groups (n = 1580; 56% males) were assessed: control (n = 305), lower (n = 117) and higher (n = 113) schizotypy (both groups of healthy individuals), at-risk for psychosis (n = 120), BD type-I (n = 359), BD type-II (n = 96), schizoaffective disorder (n = 86), and SZ groups (n = 384). PRS differences were investigated for binary traits and the quantitative Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Both BD-PRS and SZ-PRS significantly differentiated controls from at-risk and clinical groups (Nagelkerke's pseudo-R2: 1.3-7.7%), except for BD type-II for SZ-PRS. Out of 28 pairwise comparisons for SZ-PRS and BD-PRS, 9 and 12, respectively, reached the Bonferroni-corrected significance. BD-PRS differed between control and at-risk groups, but not between at-risk and BD type-I groups. There was no difference between controls and schizotypy. SZ-PRSs, but not BD-PRSs, were positively associated with transdiagnostic symptomology. Overall, PRSs support the continuum model across the psychosis spectrum at the genomic level with possible irregularities for schizotypy. The at-risk state demands heightened clinical attention and research addressing symptom course specifiers. Continued efforts are needed to refine the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of PRSs in mental healthcare.

Psychometric Properties of a Self-Report Version of the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory-Female (SIDI-F-SR).

BACKGROUND: The Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory-Female (SIDI-F) is a clinician-administered scale that allows for a comprehensive assessment of symptoms related to Hypoactive Sexual Desire Dysfunction (HSDD). As self-report questionnaires may facilitate less socially desirable responding and as time and resources are scarce in many clinical and research settings, a self-report version was developed (Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory- Female Self-Report; SIDI-F-SR). AIM: To assess the psychometric properties of the SIDI-F-SR and to investigate the agreement between the SIDI-F and SIDI-F-SR. METHODS: A total of 170 women (Mage = 37, SD = 11, range = 20-69) with HSDD answered the SIDI-F, administered by a clinical psychologist via telephone, first, followed by the SIDI-F-SR, delivered as an Internet-based questionnaire. A subset of 19 women answered the SIDI-F-SR twice over a period of 14 weeks. OUTCOMES: Convergent validity of the SIDI-F-SR was assessed via correlations with the desire subscale of the Female Sexual Function Index and the Female Sexual Distress Scale Revised. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability as well as intraclass correlation and predictors of absolute agreement between SIDI-F and SIDI-F-SR were examined. RESULTS: Test-retest-reliability was good (r = 0.74). Convergent validity was low but comparable between SIDI-F and SIDI-F-SR. Internal consistency of the SIDI-F-SR was acceptable (α = 0.76) and comparable to the SIDI-F (α = 0.74). When corrections for the restriction of range were applied, internal consistency of the SIDI-F-SR increased to 0.91. There was high agreement between SIDI-F and SIDI-F-SR (ICC = 0.86). On average, women scored about one point higher (indicated more desire) in the self-report vs the clinician-administered scale. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The SIDI-F-SR can be used in settings where time and resources are limited. Whether the clinical cutoff point for the SIDI-F is adequate for the SIDI-F-SR has yet to be determined. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: Large sample of diverse women with HSDD. Lack of control groups (ie, healthy controls, women with other sexual dysfunctions). CONCLUSION: The SIDI-F-SR showed promising psychometric properties in a sample of women with HSDD. Velten J, Hirschfeld G, Meyers M, et al. Psychometric Properties of a Self-Report Version of the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory-Female (SIDI-F-SR). J Sex Med 2021;18:990-995.

Using Three Indirect Measures to Assess the Role of Sexuality-Related Associations and Interpretations for Women's Sexual Desire: An Internet-Based Experimental Study.

Theoretical models emphasize the role of both automatic appraisals (i.e., associations) and conscious appraisals (i.e., interpretations) for sexual desire. Studies on sexuality-related appraisals have not combined self-report measures and experimental paradigms in order to compare the relevance of associations or interpretations. The aim of this study was to assess the relative contribution of both associations and interpretations to the explanation of low sexual desire in women. Toward this goal, indirect measures assessing associations (via a Single Target Implicit Association Test [STIAT]) and interpretations (via a Scrambled Sentences Test [SST] and a scenario task) were administered in a sample of 263 women (Mage = 27.90, SD 8.27) with varying levels of sexual desire and different sexual orientations (exclusively heterosexual women: 54.6%). Negative sexuality-related interpretations as assessed with two variants of the SST as well as the scenario task added to the explanation of lower sexual desire in women. Negative associations as measured with the STIAT were predictive of lower sexual desire only in women who did not indicate an exclusively heterosexual orientation. In this study, sexuality-related interpretations were more relevant to women's sexual desire than automatic associations. Future studies should assess the causal mechanism underlying sexuality-related interpretations (e.g., by evaluating whether these can be changed via cognitive bias modification techniques or psychological treatments).

Psychological Treatment of Low Sexual Desire in Women: Protocol for a Randomized, Waitlist-Controlled Trial of Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral and Mindfulness-Based Treatments.

BACKGROUND: Psychological therapies are effective treatments for hypoactive sexual desire dysfunction (HSDD; formerly hypoactive sexual desire disorder), a common sexual dysfunction among women. Access to evidence-based treatments, however, remains difficult. Internet-based interventions are effective for a variety of psychological disorders and may be a promising means to close the treatment gap for HSDD. OBJECTIVE: This article describes the treatment protocol and study design of a randomized controlled trial, aiming to study the efficacy of cognitive behavioral and mindfulness-based interventions delivered via the internet for women with HSDD to a waitlist control group. Outcomes are sexual desire (primary) and sexual distress (secondary). Additional variables (eg, depression, mindfulness, rumination) will be assessed as potential moderators or mediators of treatment success. METHODS: A cognitive behavioral and a mindfulness-based self-help intervention for HSDD will be provided online. Overall, 266 women with HSDD will be recruited and assigned either to one of the intervention groups, or to a waitlist control group (2:2:1). Outcome data will be assessed at baseline, at 12 weeks, and at 6 and 12 months after randomization. Intention-to-treat and completer analyses will be conducted. RESULTS: We expect improvements in sexual desire and sexuality-related distress in both intervention groups compared to the waitlist control. Recruitment has begun in January 2019 and is expected to be completed in August 2021. Results will be published in 2022. CONCLUSIONS: This study aims to contribute to the improvement and dissemination of psychological treatments for women with HSDD and to clarify whether cognitive behavioral and/or mindfulness-based treatments for HSDD are feasible and effective when delivered via the internet. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03780751; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03780751. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/20326.

An Investigation of Psychosis Subgroups With Prognostic Validation and Exploration of Genetic Underpinnings: The PsyCourse Study.

Importance: Identifying psychosis subgroups could improve clinical and research precision. Research has focused on symptom subgroups, but there is a need to consider a broader clinical spectrum, disentangle illness trajectories, and investigate genetic associations. Objective: To detect psychosis subgroups using data-driven methods and examine their illness courses over 1.5 years and polygenic scores for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression disorder, and educational achievement. Design, Setting, and Participants: This ongoing multisite, naturalistic, longitudinal (6-month intervals) cohort study began in January 2012 across 18 sites. Data from a referred sample of 1223 individuals (765 in the discovery sample and 458 in the validation sample) with DSM-IV diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder (I/II), schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder, and brief psychotic disorder were collected from secondary and tertiary care sites. Discovery data were extracted in September 2016 and analyzed from November 2016 to January 2018, and prospective validation data were extracted in October 2018 and analyzed from January to May 2019. Main Outcomes and Measures: A clinical battery of 188 variables measuring demographic characteristics, clinical history, symptoms, functioning, and cognition was decomposed using nonnegative matrix factorization clustering. Subtype-specific illness courses were compared with mixed models and polygenic scores with analysis of covariance. Supervised learning was used to replicate results in validation data with the most reliably discriminative 45 variables. Results: Of the 765 individuals in the discovery sample, 341 (44.6%) were women, and the mean (SD) age was 42.7 (12.9) years. Five subgroups were found and labeled as affective psychosis (n = 252), suicidal psychosis (n = 44), depressive psychosis (n = 131), high-functioning psychosis (n = 252), and severe psychosis (n = 86). Illness courses with significant quadratic interaction terms were found for psychosis symptoms (R2 = 0.41; 95% CI, 0.38-0.44), depression symptoms (R2 = 0.28; 95% CI, 0.25-0.32), global functioning (R2 = 0.16; 95% CI, 0.14-0.20), and quality of life (R2 = 0.20; 95% CI, 0.17-0.23). The depressive and severe psychosis subgroups exhibited the lowest functioning and quadratic illness courses with partial recovery followed by reoccurrence of severe illness. Differences were found for educational attainment polygenic scores (mean [SD] partial η2 = 0.014 [0.003]) but not for diagnostic polygenic risk. Results were largely replicated in the validation cohort. Conclusions and Relevance: Psychosis subgroups were detected with distinctive clinical signatures and illness courses and specificity for a nondiagnostic genetic marker. New data-driven clinical approaches are important for future psychosis taxonomies. The findings suggest a need to consider short-term to medium-term service provision to restore functioning in patients stratified into the depressive and severe psychosis subgroups.

A longitudinal approach to biological psychiatric research: The PsyCourse study.

In current diagnostic systems, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are still conceptualized as distinct categorical entities. Recently, both clinical and genomic evidence have challenged this Kraepelinian dichotomy. There are only few longitudinal studies addressing potential overlaps between these conditions. Here, we present design and first results of the PsyCourse study (N = 891 individuals at baseline), an ongoing transdiagnostic study of the affective-to-psychotic continuum that combines longitudinal deep phenotyping and dimensional assessment of psychopathology with an extensive collection of biomaterial. To provide an initial characterization of the PsyCourse study sample, we compare two broad diagnostic groups defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) classification system, that is, predominantly affective (n = 367 individuals) versus predominantly psychotic disorders (n = 524 individuals). Depressive, manic, and psychotic symptoms as well as global functioning over time were contrasted using linear mixed models. Furthermore, we explored the effects of polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia on diagnostic group membership and addressed their effects on nonparticipation in follow-up visits. While phenotypic results confirmed expected differences in current psychotic symptoms and global functioning, both manic and depressive symptoms did not vary between both groups after correction for multiple testing. Polygenic risk scores for schizophrenia significantly explained part of the variability of diagnostic group. The PsyCourse study presents a unique resource to research the complex relationships of psychopathology and biology in severe mental disorders not confined to traditional diagnostic boundaries and is open for collaborations.

At-risk symptoms of bipolar disorder in a university student cohort.

To assess the occurrence and frequency of bipolar at-risk symptoms in a large sample of previously undiagnosed students using the new screening tool Bochumer Screeningbogen Bipolar (BSB). 2329 students of the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany completed online demographic data as well as various self-rating questionnaires (BSB; Hypomania Checklist 32; Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale; Beck Depression Inventory). Within the student cohort (64.4% female, mean age 24.3 years) every fifth student currently suffered from moderate to severe depressive symptoms; every sixth student had already thought about suicide and every other student reported a history of mood swings. The most frequently reported depressive symptoms included physical exhaustion, depressed mood, and tiredness. The most frequently reported (hypo)manic symptoms included physical agitation, feeling extremely energetic, and lack of concentration. The BSB showed good convergent validity with other established questionnaires capturing depressive or (hypo)manic symptoms, as well as a stable administration of underlying constructs. The BSB correlated significantly with the already established applied questionnaires. The predictive power of the BSB regarding the development of bipolar disorder cannot be correctly quantified at present. The further purpose of this exploratory web-based study should be to examine the validity of the presented measures in a longitudinal design.

Large Group Exposure Treatment: A Feasibility Study of Exposure Combined with Diaphragmatic Breathing in Highly Dental Fearful Individuals.

A large-group one session treatment (LG-OST) combining exposure and diaphragmatic breathing as a bodily coping element was carried out to investigate its feasibility and effectiveness in a sample of 43 highly dental fearful individuals treated simultaneously. We assessed subjective dental fear, dysfunctional dental-related beliefs, and perceived control pre- and post-intervention and at four-month follow-up. Participants additionally performed a behavioural approach test (BAT) pre- and post-intervention. During the applied exposure exercises, four participants (9.3%) discontinued the program all reporting too high levels of distress. Regarding subjective dental fear and dysfunctional dental related beliefs post treatment effects, LG-OST showed medium to large effect sizes, ranging from Cohen's d = 0.51 to d = 0.84 in the Intention-to-Treat analysis. Subjective dental fear improved clinically significantly in about one fourth (25.6%) of therapy completers. All post-treatment effects remained stable over time. Concerning the behavioral fear dimension, we observed a strong ceiling effect. Already at pre-assessment, participants accomplished more than six out of seven BAT-steps. Thus, behavioral approach did not increase significantly following treatment. Overall, the LG-OST protocol proved feasible and efficient. Compared to other one-session individual and multi-session group treatments the observed LG-OST effects were smaller. However, if LG-OST could match the efficacy of highly intensive short treatments delivered in an individual setting in the future, for example, by applying a wider array of exposure exercises, it could be a very useful treatment option as an intermediate step within a stepped care approach.